


A Junkyard in South Blue

by makesureyouwashyourhands



Category: One Piece
Genre: Backstory, Because if Oda won't write it than I will, But it focuses on Kidd's POV, Eustass Kid is a Little Shit, Explicit Language, Gangs, Gen, Growing Up, Kid Fic, Kidd and Killer throughout the years, Minor mentions of classism, POV Third Person Limited, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27388351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makesureyouwashyourhands/pseuds/makesureyouwashyourhands
Summary: There's a junkyard in South Blue that's legendary. Why wouldn't it be? That's where the famed Kidd Pirates originated. Captain Kidd and the Massacre Soldier grew up among those towers of trash. It was a breeding place for monsters.
Relationships: Eustass Kid & Killer
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	A Junkyard in South Blue

**Author's Note:**

> TW: torture, near death experiences, being attacked by dogs, implied body dysmorphia

The junkyard is a cruel, merciless place. It raises its children to be just like it.

Eustass Kidd is six, and he's about to die.

Everyone talked about the dangers of dumpster diving in the night. Everyone warned the children of the wild dogs and ruthless bandits that killed under the cover of dark. Kidd hadn't cared. In a way, he still didn't care. If all took were some lousy dogs and bandits to kill him, then he would've never lasted long anyway. Weak people surviving was an idea invited by and for the rich. Nobody cared about the poor kids in the slums; no one bothered to look for them when they ran away.

Kidd manages to scramble his way up a steep pile, the dogs biting at his heels. He pulls himself up and for a moment, it feels like a victory. 

Then the piece of junk he's holding onto begins to tip backwards.

He screams, not exactly voluntarily, because he wants to be brave but he's about to get _mauled alive_ and that's no way to go out. He wanted to survive. He came out here to prove to himself that he could. The joke was him, he guessed.

Only it wasn't, because the rest of the pile began to fall as well. Steep and tall, the crumbling tower of garbage burries him and kills the dogs. Maybe not all of them. He can still hear one scratching and whimpering somewhere. He ignores it and tries to make his way out. He digs carefully, not wanting the whole thing to collapse onto him. He freezes up for what's probably hours when it looks like his little air pocket is about to cave in. It doesn't, because apparently he's the luckiest son of a bitch alive. He keeps digging. When he makes his way out, it's dawn. He survived the night! He's officially done the impossible!

(Not that he'll be trying again anytime soon.) 

* * *

Eustass Kidd is eight, and he meets a boy with filthy blond bangs.

The boy doesn't have a name, not one he'll tell anyway, and instead prefers to go by Killer. It's a name he earned, he says, by beating some scumbag to death with a wrench. "Ya gotta defend your food, everyone knows that," Killer shrugs. "I dunno why they gotta give me a nickname for it, but I like it better than my real one." Kidd couldn't agree more. Its cool as hell. If Kidd's name wasn't already so cool, he'd be looking for a new name of his own.

Kidd and Killer stage a break-in of one of the wealthier areas. Not quite in the city, but near enough that the house will actually have some valuables. They're rewarded with enough food to last _days_ and a shiny new knife. A kitchen knife, likely the only one the household owned. Kidd would've felt bad if it wasn't for the fact that the owners were rich enough to own a house in the first place.

They build a shelter together. Killer's tired of living in a hole and Kidd's tired of huddling up inside a box. It isn't big, but they're not big either. It's sturdy, however, and they did it together. 

"We could build a ship like this," Kid says. "When I become a pirate."

"A pirate?" 

"And not just any pirate, the King of the Pirates!" Kidd exclaims. Killer gives him a long look.

"...Why would _pirates_ need a _king_?"

"It's a title, asshole. It means that you're the best pirate on the seas. The strongest, richest, best pirate in the world." Kidd rarely talks about his dream anymore. The adults are condescending motherfuckers and the other kids don't believe him. It's never dimmed his determination, but it has made him stop shouting it from the rooftops.

"Sounds cool. So you want me to help you build your ship?" Kidd smiles.

"Yeah, can't buy one. It's gotta be _special_."

"How do we get the materials for that?"

"We'll figure it out. It doesn't gotta happen right this second," Kidd shrugs. "...Wanna be my first mate?"

Killer laughs and makes a hook with his hand. "Aye, Captain."

* * *

Eustass Kidd is eleven, and he just ate the nastiest fruit he's ever had in his life. 

That's saying something too, cause he's eaten rotten fruit before. He's hungry, however, so he shoves the rest in his mouth anyways. He needs fuel of he's gonna make the walk from there to town. He's got shit to do. He's got houses to break into, pockets to pick, and fights to win. Killer staked out a good spot to start with. Now all they've gotta do is rob 'em blind. 

The metal shakes as he walks. He ignores it. The piles are always ready to topple over. Doesn't make 'em any more threatening than they were yesterday. He's long gotten over the fear of it (it saved his life once, after all). Suddenly, a sheet of metal flies towards him. He ducks in time, but only barely. It topples a small pile nearby. The pieces start to roll near him. He takes a step back. They roll closer. He takes a step towards them... they roll a little away. He has this instinct, now. This strange urge. He focuses on one screw, and carefully raises his hand.

It floats, it fucking _floats_. 

Everything he had to do that day forgotten, he dedicates that morning to practicing his newfound abilities. Killer walks in on him making a wagon go back and forth.

"What the hell, Kidd? I was waiting for you forever! What the fuck have you been doing?" 

"Oh, hey Killer, I wanna show ya something."

Killer blanches at the sight of a now levitating wagon. "What... did you do today?"

"Well, I woke up, I worked on some robots, I ate some nasty fucking fruit--"

"Where did you get the fruit?"

"Uh, it fell out of some ships cargo hold. One piece all alone in a box. Kinda weird, but I figure it's cause it was diseased or some shit. It was gross," Kidd laments. It had looked so tasty too!

"Kidd, I think you ate a Devil Fruit."

"A what?"

"A Devil Fruit, I was reading about them in the library--"

"Nerd."

"Shut it. But I was reading about them, right? They give you power after you've eaten them, but once you do the ocean will hate you, so you loose your ability to swim."

"Sounds like there's only one way to find out if that's it then, huh?"

They walk to the ocean, Killer relating all he could remember about the fruits to Kidd. Kidd steps in the water... and falls flat on his face. All his energy just... leaves him. He can't bring himself to get up. He's a limp doll. He starts to drift outwards... only for Killer to drag him back up and back to shore.

"Well... that solves that."

* * *

Eustass Kidd is thirteen, and he's never wanted to kill something more in his life.

His shelter is partially destroyed, his latest project's been trashed, and Killer is _gone_. The little girl who lives nearby says she saw the bastards who did this drag him away. They nabbed his partner and thought they could get away with it. They were dead wrong. He asks the girl what way they went. She points North.

He knows to stop walking when he hears screaming.

There's a hut up ahead, massive compared to his and Killer's, and he can hear curses and laughter as well but that doesn't make the screaming any less loud. Kidd runs towards it. A chill fills his blood and urges him to move _faster_. He doesn't take the time to take in the scene before him. He doesn't stop to gape or curse or cry out. He just locates the first motherfucker he can find and kills him, levitate his sword and slits his throat. He uses the same trick to kill the woman next to him. He finishes off the last two with her pistol, which he pockets (good firearms are hard to come by). It's only once they're all dead that he really looks around. 

Killer is lying on his side. His face is pale and his hair is matted with his own blood. He's missing fingernails, and the fingers that would've had fingernails had the tops cut off of them. The rest of him is covered in burns and cuts. The smell of iron mixed with smoke fills the whole building. Kidd ignores it.

"Killer!" he yells, shaking him by the shoulder. "Killer!" Killer groans, but he doesn't open his eyes. Frustrated, Kidd tries to sit him up. "Killer!"

Finally, Killer's eyes crack open a little. "Kidd? That you?" he mutters.

"Yeah... ya alright?" He nearly smacks himself for asking that. Of course Killer isn't fucking alright!

"Can't say I've had worse... but I'm alive," Killer replies groggily. He manages a shaky smile. "Didn't leave any for me, did ya?"

"That depends, how many are there?" Kidd says, gesturing to the four dead bodies on the ground. 

"'Bout ten. Rest must've head out. We should leave before they come back." Killer tries to stand up, but his legs aren't in good shape. Kidd catches him before he hits his head again. "Fuck."

"Here, I got ya," Kidd whispers, moving Killer onto his shoulder. They limp back home to plan their revenge.

* * *

Eustass Kidd is fifteen, and he rules all he knows.

He's built up a crew ( _yes_ , he was calling them his crew, Killer, _no_ he didn't need a ship to have a crew) that other pirates tremble at the sight of. The local law enforcement knows better than to fuck with them, and he's killed off his fair share of marines called in to stop him. His people plunder cargo holds, homes, and loots the junk piles for useful equipment. There's about twelve of them as is, and they're all crazy motherfuckers he would die for. Not that any actual threat's come up since he started to dominate. Anything his people couldn't take care of he butchered with his Devil Fruit. Who knew eating that nasty shit would give such long-term gain? 

They've started building a ship, just like he and Killer swore they would all those years ago. It's barely a memory, now. The Kidd Pirates' ship will be marriage of wood and metal. Killer hated that pirate name when Kidd brought it up, but Kidd was also the _captain_ so he got to choose the name! People needed to shut up and stop laughing about it!

Some assholes (the Forked-Tongue Pirates, what a dumb name) were encroaching on Kidd Pirates territory recently, and that was something Kidd couldn't fucking stand. His crew didn't like it much either. These guys needed to learn some respect for their betters. They were all fucking _weaklings_. They had no place forming a pirate crew. Killer, just like always, staked the place out beforehand. Their hideout was mediocre, with some basic security and zero flare. Where were the banners declaring their presence? Where were the swords and hats of all the marines they killed? Where was the _second floor_? If these guys weren't such arrogant motherfuckers, Kidd would've given them a few design pointers. 

In the end, they decided to challenge right through the front door. 

_("I went through all the trouble to stake it out," Killer grumbled. "Why can't we form even a simple plan?"_

_"Cause that's boring, and you_ know _it's boring. Sides, doesn't make much difference which way we attack from according to your oh-so-valuable intel. We'll call it a 'strategic charge'."_

_"I was fucking with you, but go off I guess.")_

As expected, the assholes turned tail and fled. If they were ever worth their salt they would've stayed. Kidd's blood boiled as he saw some shove others out of their path to get out. Weren't these guys supposed to be crewmates? They were pretty lousy at it. If there was one thing a pirate needed, it was a crew they could count on. He aimed for the runners. He had enough respect for the defenders not to beat 'm up too badly. They weren't killing if they didn't have to, Kidd didn't like it but Killer said it'd be good for building alliances later. Kidd wasn't sure why he _needed_ alliances, but he trusted Killer. The blond was always the better thinker of the two.

Where was he, anyway? "Killer! Hey, Killer!" 

It takes a minute, but Kidd finds him, he's standing over one of the few people they'd killed holding a weird looking... mask?

"What's that?"

Killer startles, but quickly moves back into neutral mode. "A mask," he says. "I'm kinda feeling it."

"Well then try it on."

Killer gives him a look that says _I was gonna do that anyway_ and slips it over his head. It _does_ suit him. "Looks good."

"I like it too. I like it better... without my face."

"What better?"

"My appearance." Kidd sighs, but doesn't say anything. Killer, over the years, had been getting more and more disgusted by the way he looked; his face especially. Kidd didn't understand it, and he didn't know what do to about it. Maybe the mask would help.

"Well fucking keep it if you like it, I'm gonna see if they've got any money around here."

* * *

Eustass Kidd is seventeen, and he's finally setting out to sea. 

It took three years to build his ship to completion, but she was finally sea-worthy. ("Why are all ships girls?" "I think it's just sailor talk.") There was some debate on what to name it, but the crew had finally settled on the perfect one. Her name was the _Victoria Punk_. She wasn't known well now, but soon the sight of her would strike fear into the hearts of merchants, sailors, and marines alike. She would go down in history as the ship of the Pirate King. 

Killer stands beside him, the same way he has since they met. He's fitted himself with a nice pair of scythes. Kidd's mastery of his devil fruit has only gotten better. They climb on board, one by one, with no one to see them off. Kidd's crew is made of people who had to be tough because no one else was gonna look after them. It wasn't many people, but they would grow as they went. Causing havoc, taking treasure, and picking up every motherfucker with audacity they could find. 

Kidd stands at the helm. He's dreamed of this day for fourteen years. Fourteen years of picturing this moment, and none of it comes close to the real thing. Good! He'd be disappointed if it did. "Ready, boss?" Killer calls from the lookout, and Kidd smiles.

"Ready!" 

The _Victoria Punk_ pulls away from the docks, and Eustass Kidd is finally, truly free. 

The junkyard he leaves behind watches him go in silence. Eustass Kidd will trample the world.


End file.
